FRANKFURT (MNI) – The European Central Bank announced on Monday
that it had settled E635 million worth of sovereign debt purchases in
the week ending December 9, its lowest level since early August,
following E3.662 billion settled in the week ending December 2 and
E8.581 billion the week before.
The ECB purchases settled last week bring the cumulative total
still on the bank’s balance sheet to E207.5 billion. As usual, the
central bank said it will seek to sterilize the entire amount through a
quick tender to collect one-week term deposits.
The deposit tender, to be held Monday at 1030 GMT/0530 ET, will be
conducted as a variable-rate operation with a maximum bid rate of 1.0%,
the ECB said. The fixed-term deposits can be used as collateral in the
Eurosystem’s credit operations.
— Frankfurt bureau: +49 69 720 142; email: frankfurt@marketnews.com —
[TOPICS: MT$$$$,M$$EC$,M$$FI$,M$X$$$,MGX$$$]
